Granted, I did spend almost all of my time in Bucharest , so this could have made the difference. I spent 2 days in Brasov and went to see the Bran Castle nothing special at all!!! Brasov was certainly nice, clean, charming, etc. I would recommend Brasov as a rest from Bucharest.
Bucharest on the other hand was very big, very spread out which made taking taxis necessary for moving around at night, caotic, dirty and noisy. I did see dogs on the streets, but nothing to really alarm me. Beggars were also visible, but nothing bothersome. I never felt unsafe walking around and did see a good police presence. I will say that Bucharest has a number of very beautiful buildings.
I am not talking about the palaces that they talk about in guide books. I highly recommend simply walking around down any random block. You will be amazed at the number of majestic buildings and palaces. I really enjoyed this. The city, though, just did not live up to what I expected. These cities are more "western European", whereas in Bucharest I really felt like it was "east Europe ".
I could count on one hand the number of people I saw actually with a smile on their face. The words "thank you", "excuse me" I have never seen such bad service in my lifetime. People could speak a bit of English, but at times this was even a problem. Taxi drivers are the biggest thieves in the world in Bucharest.
Always check how much they are charging you per lei before starting. I was consistently overcharged and only when one of my Romanian friends negotiated the rate did I pay 3x less!
